In a move that is truly baffling, a small Australian town has been named “Gilead” much to the chagrin of social media users and “The Handmaid’s Tale” fans who are exclaiming “WTF?”.
Located just outside Campbelltown in New South Wales, Lendlease is building 2,000 new homes on the development and calling it a “new lifestyle gateway,” without fully realizing the gravity of such a statement when you take into account the Handmaid’s connection. I’m speaking, of course, about the fact that the dystopian society that “The Handmaid’s Tale” is set in is called Gilead.
Campbelltown City Council claim they named the town Gilead for the biblical reference to a region in modern-day Jordan, which is one of Israel’s finest farm regions, but it’s 2018 and we’re a bit dubious. It was either a massive mess up by someone who may or may not have a job anymore, or, it was the work of a PR genius who saw the opportunity to name the town something with a pop culture reference which will bring the tourists flocking.
Either way, it’s an odd choice given the fact that the Gilead of “The Handmaid’s Tale” is a truly messed up place and anyone who would want to willingly live there are either massive misogynists or need to be put in a psych ward.
The Campbelltown Mayor has different thoughts, however, telling the Daily Telegraph that “It might have been (like “The Handmaid’s Tale”) in colonial days but now it’s the total opposite … it’ll be a utopian state where women have equal rights with men.” A ‘utopian state’? I doubt it, babe, but okay.
The Lendlease website promotes the development as “a community surrounded by natural bushland…Our residents will enjoy the beauty and convenience of beaches, adventures, hikes, walks and foodie hubs, at their doorstep.” It claims that Gilead will offer the community a “living experience surrounded by nature.”
We can only speak for ourselves, but I am not rushing to buy a property in Gilead anytime soon. A place with such a name is probably reeking with bad juju! No thank you. I’ll stick to watching “The Handmaid’s Tale.”